


(what) can i get you?

by allthelines



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - College/University, Fluff and Crack, M/M, Mutual Pining, cameo appearance by fellow baby chick seonho!, jaesung rise 2k19, once again this is part of the agenda to make, university experience is not actually as fun as detailed in this fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-01
Updated: 2019-05-01
Packaged: 2020-02-09 16:19:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18641686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allthelines/pseuds/allthelines
Summary: Chenle opens a cafe in the university’s study area because apparently that’s what business majors do withfuck youmoney.Jaemin, defending champion of #1 in looks on campus forums, is roped into being a part-timer at the cafe to attract customers.Jisung is upset his usual study spot with the electrical outlet by the wall is now gone but changes his mind after seeing the barista.Jeno just wants his roommate to stop over-brushing their (illegal) pet cat every time he’s vexed about the cute boy in the cafe.Renjun wonders what the fuck he’s done to deserve all these less than normal people in his life.





	(what) can i get you?

**Author's Note:**

> jfc i should _really_ be studying but here i am again because i don’t want to study; all i can think about is college!au jaesung. hence i am going to post this and get it out of the way
> 
> this is really 90% crack and 10% actual story line i'm just venting my (very real) stress of university into a fic 
> 
> enjoy!!
> 
> * * *
> 
> this work is also now available in Vietnamese [here](https://www.wattpad.com/story/194863966-trans-what-can-i-get-you), courtesy of jjinkyu on Wattpad!

If there’s one thing Jaemin strongly believes in, it’s in the fact that enrolling for university was the dubious start of a snowball of unfortunate events in his life that is slowly turning into an avalanche he cannot even hope to escape out of. Classes haven’t started for his final academic year but he’s already thinking of the withdrawal form he filled up at the end of his first semester and kept in his drawer _just in case things got really bad_. He’s thought of the many reasons that would be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and make him submit the form to the student office; taxing course load, too many failures in one semester, perhaps just figuring out he wasn’t made for college at all. But he’d never thought it’d be a hipster looking plaque embossed with the words “A Shot & Bakery” stylised in a really pretty font that probably costs him a semester’s tuition fees but was petty change to Chenle. This was not what he signed up for when Zhong _I’m rich and have too much fuck you money lying around_ Chenle asked him to help out and play part-timer at his soon-to-be opened cafe.

He stares at it for a while more, glancing at Chenle (who looks very proud of himself), at Jeno (who’s looking proudly at Chenle), at Renjun (who looks like he wants to be anywhere but there), then back at the offensive plaque.

“I mean,” Jaemin begins, pausing to deeply inhale, then exhale, “Is it not a sensitive topic for a school? Like, are you inviting people to commit school violence? Should you be naming a cafe in a study area like that?”

Eyes wide and twinkling with genuine curiosity, Chenle questions, “Why would people think of violence? How is this sensitive?”

“You’re literally naming a coffeeshop the homonym of _assault and battery_ , and it has a _shot_ in it,” Renjun points out matter-of-factly.

Chenle vocalises a little _oh?_ as if it’s news, before turning to his boyfriend. “Jeno came up with it though?”

The culprit nods, smiling so wide his eyes are crinkling into little half-moons, ruffling his boyfriend’s hair. Chenle preens in the attention and leans into the touch. Jeno doesn’t even bother to look at his friends when he explains, “The _shot_ in the name is not a gun _shot_ , it’s a _shot_ of coffee. It’s a wonderful pun.”

Jaemin rolls his eyes, jabbing a finger into Jeno’s shoulder. “Of all people, you listened to Jenojaem over here?”

“Betrayed by my own childhood friend!” Jeno huffs, offended. “Also, stop saying that, it sounds like a portmanteau of our names and it’s disgusting.”

Said childhood friend decidedly ignores the protest. “And how is _a shot_ enough? I need, like, eight to get through the day. Ten, if I have to see Jeno.”

“Jaemin-ah, that’s not assault and battery anymore. That’s addiction, which could similarly land you in jail,” Jeno snarks.

Renjun sighs. _Here we go again._

“Chenle?”

“Hmm?”

“Does the cafe have a return counter? If it accepts humans, I would like a refund on my best friend. You can have him all to yourself, I don’t want him anymore.”

• • •

Jisung is confused. _Very_ confused. In the last semester, he had found this amazing spot in the campus’ study area. It was in a corner, had a comfy bean bag, a short table that was just at the right height to fit his long legs under and best of all, there was an electrical outlet on the wall. Now that was all gone with a cafe named to sound like the very things he would commit on whoever decided to renovate the study space over summer break. (It’s not an overreaction, nobody understands the pain of having long legs and the elation of finding a desk you can fit them under.)

Laptop in hand, frown etched in his face and nowhere to go except to the cafe, Jisung scans the area unhappily for a new spot he can settle down into and work on his assignments. His attention is completely diverted as his gaze lands on the guy manning the cash register. Fluffy brown hair, large doe-like eyes, eyelashes he could see fanning out despite how far apart they were and a wide gummy smile with each customer he greets. Unsurprisingly, most of the people in queue were female, with some of them trying to inconspicuously take photos of him.

Suddenly there’s a lot lesser to deliberate over his study spot as Jisung picks a seat that gives him a good view of the counter, dumps his belongings on the chair and joins the queue. If he isn’t going to have his bean bag, table and electrical outlet, he can at the very least have some eye candy as he works.

He forgets that not everybody likes and approves of overly-saccharine coffee when Jaemin ( _I’m Jaemin! My favourite coffee is iced americano with six extra shots and no sugar at all_ , his name tag reads) takes his order of: _a medium-sized mocha frappe with two pumps of vanilla syrup and extra chocolate chips, no whipped cream, thanks_.

“That sounds awfully sweet, you need the sugar to get through the day or something?” Jaemin shoots him a brilliant smile with the question.

Jisung swallows nervously in the presence of the extremely good-looking barista he had just met thirty seconds ago but was already causing him a nervous breakdown with his attractive face. “Yeah-h. I have a fair bit of coding to get to.”

“Ooooh,” Jaemin responds, eyes shining with admiration. “Are you a comp science major? I wanted to do something like that when I was a kid.”

“Ah, really?”

“Yeah! Y’know those super cool scenes in dramas where the hackers type super quickly and then rows and rows of green text appear on screen?” Jaemin grips the cup and Sharpie in his hands funnily and makes typing motions with the remaining free fingers he has. “And then, boom! All the information they want comes rolling in!”

Jisung bites back an exasperated laugh. He’ll let the stereotypical remark pass because Jaemin’s good looking enough. “Uh, well. Comp science isn’t just hacking though. It just looks good on TV, it’s not that cool in real life.”

“Yeah I know,” Jaemin sighs. “I looked at the modules offered when I was deciding what to major in, and boy was I disappointed. So in the end I went with visual comms instead.”

“Oh, wow. Visual comms is a cool major. Pretty tough too, isn’t it? I don’t know how you guys juggle all the media things and create all those cool art stuff.”

The girl behind Jisung interrupts with a loud cough. Even Jaemin’s co-worker, yet another pretty boy, this time with dark blonde hair, small but cute facial features and a name tag that reads _I’m Renjun and I don’t like coffee, ask me about tea instead!_ is leaning against the counter, arms crossed, bored and waiting for the next order to make.

“Ah, sorry, I’m holding up the line,” Jisung apologised, flustered.

“You’re not! Anyway, can I get a name for this cup of sugar?” Jaemin teases.

Jisung ducks his head in embarrassment at the jibe. “J-Jisung.”

“Well, nice to meet you Jisung! I’m Jaemin.”

“I know,” Jisung states before he can stop himself. Weakly, he raises a finger to point at the barista’s chest. “I mean, you have a name tag.”

Jaemin looks down at the plastic pinned to the front of his apron. “Oh, right! Okay I’ll call you when the coffee is done. Go grab a straw and take a seat!”

Safe to say, Jisung barely gets any work done because he’s too busy staring at Jaemin and then pretending to be very into his work whenever the barista so much as glances remotely in his direction. He also finds out that Jaemin is very friendly, holding at least a two-minute conversation with literally everybody in line.

Jisung sighs as he folds the straw’s wrapper into a paper star, leaving it on the table as he packs his things to return to his dorm room.

• • •

By the second week, Chenle notices that the chocolate chips are starting to run out way too fast. He’s even accounted for the possible extra coffee beans Jaemin would use up stealing extra shots for his drink of death while working, so where’s all the chocolate chips gone? He frowns as he checks the remaining stock they have, making sure he didn’t miscalculate.

“Something wrong?” Renjun asks, putting down the sponge and wiping his hands off on his apron, leaving wet handprints on the material.

It’s closing time and he’s clearing the sinks while Jaemin’s still busy at the back with the ovens, insisting that he had to try out a new recipe for muffins before opening tomorrow.

“I don’t know if I’m calculating it right, but I think we’re a little too soon to be halfway through a five kilogram bag of chocolate chips,” Chenle states, eyebrows knitting in confusion. “Do we get a lot of customers ordering stuff with it?”

Renjun ponders for a moment. “Oh, I know where it’s all gone. There’s this boy who comes by, like, everyday? He orders this drink with some syrup in it already but still asks for chocolate chips. He also orders a chocolate chip cookie or chocolate muffin sometimes. Jaemin then gives him extra chocolate chips in his drink because he thinks the boy is cute.”

Chenle’s jaw drops. “I hired you two because you guys were supposed to be the good-looking ones attracting all the customers. How could Jaemin overuse resources and incur extra costs over a third cute boy who’s not working here!”

“Hold up, this is important, you hired us for our looks?” Renjun grimaced. “I thought it was friendship and trust!”

“Well there’s that, but the bigger reason is that Jaemin ranked number one as most good-looking guy on campus and you number three last year,” Chenle stated, nonchalant and unfazed in face of the accusation.

“Who’s number two? Why didn’t you hire number two?”

“Jeno, of course,” Chenle brags with a smile so wide his dimples are etched deeply in his cheeks. “First of all, he’s busy with his course work. Secondly, I already have Jaemin who’s handsome, I don’t need my boyfriend who’s also handsome to attract _unwanted_ attention. You’re the pretty one, so we cater to the diverse profile of tastes of our customers.”

Jaemin finds Renjun holding Chenle in a chokehold when he’s done with his muffins and has popped them into the freezer for the next morning. He takes a video of the scuffle and posts it on his Instastory, tagging Jeno to _bring the popcorn, it’s the fight of the century between Shanghai and Jilin_.

• • •

Chenle, who thankfully survives the physical altercation with Renjun after Jeno’s intervention, is determined to find out how cute is the boy Jaemin is giving extra chocolate chips to. As a business major, his number one concern was that the terms of the trade was fair, else he’s going to terminate this truly terrible, extra-cost incurring deal. If _chocolate chips boy_ did turn out to be actually cute, maybe he could consider hiring him as well.

He’s sitting behind the counter, scrolling through the university’s forum, checking the rankings of his employees-slash-friends on the ‘Most Good-Looking Guys on Campus’ voting boards for the new academic year. There’s no sign of chocolate chips boy yet, but there are a fair amount of customers today. He’s also pretty sure he sees a girl slip a note to Jaemin, probably her number, which Jaemin makes a show of folding it and putting it into his pocket with a smile, but it soon joins the trash in the waste bin when he turns to pass Renjun her order.

Jisung sighs as he waits in line at A Shot & Bakery. There has increasingly been more people around the cafe and he cannot understand why. Mid-terms rush was way too far into the future (read: five weeks away) to explain for the sudden influx of students needing caffeine. He entertains himself by checking the university forums on his phone, the very same voting boards the boss of the cafe was checking out as well, but for a different reason. He chuckles to himself as he sees the number of votes Jaemin has received in the last week. Visual communications major Na Jaemin is thousands of votes ahead of the first runner-up, veterinary bioscience major Lee Jeno who only received a couple hundred of votes. A couple of days ago, Seonho, his roommate, had shown him the charts because someone had apparently uploaded a blurry photo of him to the boards. His main concern was not his own score, however, but how close Jeno’s score was to Jaemin’s. He gives himself a pat on the back for successfully hacking into the boards and manipulating Jaemin’s score for him to lead by a landslide. Someone needed to prove the school’s cybersecurity system sucked anyway.

His happy mood is spoilt, however, when Jaemin takes the order of the girl in front of him.

“I’d like your favourite drink, and then your number.” Her voice is sweet and clear, with a hint of a laugh as she leans forward confidently, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

Jaemin pretends to play along with a chuckle. “I’m afraid my favourite drink may not be your cup of coffee. And sorry, you’re not my cup of tea.”

Renjun whistles at the suave rejection to the side. The girl’s face drops immediately and she stomps away indignantly.

“Oh, Jisung-ah!” Jaemin greets cheerily at the sight of his cutest customer. “Is it going to be your usual? Medium-sized mocha frappe with two pumps of vanilla syrup and extra chocolate chips, no whipped cream?”

Renjun nudges Chenle harder than necessary in the ribs. _Chocolate chips boy!_

Jisung nods shyly to acknowledge his order, unable to make eye contact with Jaemin for more than a second. “Do you get confessions like that a lot?”

Jaemin shrugs, “More than usual all of sudden. I’m not sure why.”

“Because you’re leading on the Most Good-Looking Guys on Campus voting board by a landslide,” Chenle interrupts. He turns to Jisung, scrutinising the boy from top to toe. “So, _you_ are _chocolate chips boy_. The photo is really potato-quality but I’m pretty sure you’re also currently number nine on Most Good-Looking Guys on Campus 2019. Not bad, would you like to work for A Shot & Bakery? You’re not the same type of handsome as Jaemin nor pretty like Renjun, I think your cute face could really fit in here!”

Renjun curses under his breath while Jaemin restrains himself from slamming his own head on the counter at the secondhand embarrassment.

“Uh…” Jisung stammers, confused, looking at Jaemin for help to diffuse the awkward situation.

“Chenle, _what the fuck_ , you’re scaring our customers. Please. Leave. Like. Here’s a cookie, take it and go eat it in the back please. Don’t stay here and terrorise the innocent.” Jaemin actually shoves a wrapped cookie into Chenle’s hands and pushes him in the direction of their backroom.

Renjun drags their supposed-employer along in a chokehold the rest of the way. Jisung hears him menacingly snarl a _what did I say about calling me pretty?!_

“So,” Jaemin gulps, hands wildly gesturing to the scene behind him. “Uh. Yeah, so, that.”

“Yeah…” Jisung trails off, still distracted by Chenle wriggling in Renjun’s hold and the choked-shrieks of _Let me go! Huang Renjun I’m your boss! I own you!_

“Sorry about that, um, you know what, your drink is on me today,” Jaemin offers. “Take this muffin as well, I changed up the recipe last night so it’s extra chocolatey. I mean, you like chocolate right? I assumed, because you always get the stuff with chocolate—”

Jisung takes the baked treat from the barista’s outstretched hand, warmth slowly spreading across his face. “Yeah, I do.”

“Great, good to know!” Jaemin exclaims, before realising his overreaction. “I mean, great, yeah, I hope you like it.”

Jisung sits at the cafe with his laptop open until he finishes the muffin before he habitually folds the straw’s wrapper into a star. He doesn’t leave it on the table this time, however; he walks up to the counter and drops it into Jaemin’s palm.

“For the treat today. I really liked it, thank you,” Jisung explains, tips of his ears turning red. He scurries away before Jaemin can say anything.

Jaemin holds the paper star up carefully, grinning. _Cute_ , he thinks, reaching for a small jar he keeps under the counter, slipping it to join about eight other similar looking paper stars inside.

Chenle munches on his cookie in the most aggrieved manner possible, crumbs dropping all over the place (which he will make Renjun clean up for choking him just now), taking the scene in and pettily making a mental list of things Jaemin cares about beginning with the letter C that goes a little bit like this:

1) Chocolate chips boy (apparently called Park Jisung)

2) Crafts chocolate chips boy make for him which he keeps under my cafe counter

3) Coffee that tastes like death

4) Course work (debatable, he’s yet to see Jaemin do work this semester but he’s apparently on the dean’s list)

3rd last) Cafe he works at, look at him abusing his employee rights to woo a guy

2nd last) Childhood friend Lee Jeno, since he asked to return him three weeks ago and finally,

Last) Chenle, his boss who deserves more respect than to be shoved into the backroom with a cookie that actually tastes pretty damn amazing, why is Jaemin so bloody good at baking?

• • •

“Jeno-ya.”

The owner of the name tenses from his position on his bed but doesn’t turn, recognising the tone used and suffix of endearment attached to his name by his childhood friend. It’s the one which means Jaemin wants to ask him for a favour he may not necessarily want to find himself agreeing to. (And he’s right, because Jaemin wants to ask him vote for Jisung on the campus forum boards. What is he even going to explain to Chenle if his boyfriend found out he voted for a guy that was neither of them?)

Jaemin strokes Affogato, their very illegal pet cat, in his lap.

(The name is courtesy of Jaemin of course, not so much because the cat resembled the dessert but because Jaemin likes coffee and _Gato_ apparently means cat in Spanish.

Jeno had made a confused gurgle then, “Why do _you_ get to name the cat?”

“It’s living with us, it means I’m the godparent of you and Chenle’s pseudo-child now, I’m like, half a guardian, I have rights!”

“The cat is living with us because Chenle’s mom doesn’t like cats!”

“Lee Jeno, you speak as if it’s perfectly legal for us to keep Affogato in our room,” Jaemin retorted.

“That’s because I’m a vet major, I can take care of it! Chenle’s like a pet himself sometimes. He looks like a cat, especially when he smiles. It’d be like a human-sized cat taking care of a normal-sized cat,” Jeno stated, smiling to himself, getting distracted. “Wait, hold up, are we really naming the cat Affogato?”

“Yeah, you have a problem with that? It’s a cute name,” Jaemin defended, scratching the cat under its chin.

“None of us even speak Spanish! Or Italian for the matter!” Jeno protested.

Jaemin picked up the cat in his arms and turned his nose away at his best friend haughtily. “What if Affogato is either, or both? Have you considered him?”

Needless to say, Jeno’s left dumbfounded and the name stuck. What’s he supposed to do? Submit the cat’s DNA to 23andMe and determine its ancestry? He didn’t even get to ask Affogato’s other supposed parent. Chenle went with it anyway.)

Jaemin knows Jeno heard him and waits as he continues to pet the cat, the furry ball of warmth lying pliantly across his legs, purring in comfort. The room begins to get saturated with Affogato’s fur and Jeno can feel a sneeze coming. He reaches for his antihistamines and unfortunately makes eye contact with his roommate. Jaemin gives his best impression of starry, pleading eyes, and even lifts Affogato up next to his face for good measure.

“What do you want,” Jeno asks in a deadpan manner, wary.

“It’s not much, I just want to borrow your student login credentials for five minutes,” Jaemin speaks in an overly-saccharine tone.

“I know we’ve been best friends for a long time but you’re gonna need to explain why you want to steal my identity for five minutes.”

“I don’t want your identity, I just need you to help me vote on the campus forums. The Most Good-Looking Guy on Campus 2019 voting board,” Jaemin explains, still trying to evoke sympathy. It’s a miracle Affogato isn’t struggling in his hold while being held up much like Simba at the beginning of The Lion King.

“No,” Jeno denies curtly. “It’s a competition between us. This is a matter of pride, I’m not voting for you.”

Jaemin puts down the cat beside him on his bed. His demeanour takes a hundred and eighty in 0.03 seconds. “I’m not going to compete with you. I would lose.”

Jeno is almost ready to deny that and tell his best friend to have more faith in his looks. He did win the voting last year after all. And he’s probably on track to win it again this year.

“ _Lose_ interest in you because you’re too weak to even be my competitor!” Jaemin cackles maniacally.

Jeno gapes in shock. Where did the sweet Jaemin asking him to do him a favour go? He has Renjun’s number on speed dial (after Chenle’s and Jaemin’s, but he’s seriously contemplating deleting Jaemin’s); his roommate’s mannerisms seem in need of an intervention only a psychology major can provide.

“Isn’t that right, Affogato?” Jaemin is back to nuzzling the cat, cooing at it. “Only a _loser_ like Jeno would adopt you just because his boyfriend picked you up on the streets, without a care that he’s allergic to your fur. Aren’t you lucky you have me? First place in most good-looking guy on campus?”

“This is getting personal Na Jaemin, I’m suing!”

Jaemin scoffs. “You? Sue me? With what money? Your rich boyfriend’s? Since when did you become Chenle’s sugar baby as well?”

“Fuck you Na Jaemin!”

Jaemin turns away snootily, resuming his brushing of Affogato’s fur, perfect recreation of a haughty heiress and an overpriced, over-pampered pure breed Persian cat. Except Jaemin’s just your usual college kid and Affogato’s definitely a stray. “I don’t take sexual offers, especially not after I’ve seen you through your ugly puberty years. Only Chenle would want you.”

“Fuck off! You’re such an insufferable little shit!”

• • •

Jisung is, once again, upset, the very upset kind of upset. He recalls Chenle’s words at the cafe and logs into the university forums to stare at Jaemin’s photo and name at the very top. He looks good despite it being a candid photo, eyes bright and blinding smile. What’s not good is the fact that now a lot more people know of Jaemin because of his unusually high votes on the boards. The vote count of a thousand, three hundred and eighty seven next to Jaemin’s face seems to grow a comical leery face to mock him.

“Why has nobody discovered the forum was hacked? It’s so obvious! Look at the scores’ disparity between just the top two!” Jisung whines.

Seonho looks up at his roommate’s screen from his chips. “You’re right, who’s this Na Jaemin anyway? Who in the right mind would hack the system and inflate this guy’s votes? He’s good-looking, but you’re better-looking! People just can’t tell because your photo’s just a blurry shot of you in a cafe, not even looking at the camera. ”

Jisung glares pointedly at his oblivious roommate, choosing to keep mum.

“Are you upset? I mean, the ranks might still fluctuate since the voting only ends this weekend, but dude, I’m so proud to be your roommate!” Seonho exclaims, mouth full of chips. “I voted for you everyday, by the way, the feeling of being part of the masses that raised you to number nine on the list feels so surreal.”

Jisung lets out a sigh. There was no way he could randomly delete Jaemin’s votes without it looking suspicious, and no way for anyone else to overtake him in a few days. There isn’t even that many students active on the boards. He feels a concerned pat on his shoulder.

“Don’t fret, my friend. Think about it positively. Let Na Jaemin get all the attention on your behalf. Everyone would be throwing themselves at him, while you can remain an unbothered number nine,” Seonho encouraged.

Jisung thinks he’s about to suffer a mental breakdown. Fuck him and his abilities in generating love rivals for himself, eh? “Seonho, please, stop.”

His roommate offers him another pat on the shoulder before shoving the opened pack of chips into his face. “Have some food, eating makes people happy. Don’t feel sad anymore!”

Jisung stuffs his face with a handful of chips to muffle the escaping sobs.

• • •

Mid-term season passes without too much fanfare but hell week descends upon Jisung like vultures eager to forage his remains after he’s been pulling several all-nighters for his three tests. He wishes he could crash and repay all the sleep debt he’s accumulated, but he’s got two assignments he needs to complete over the next three days. After powering through a period of _sleep is for the weak_ , he’s pretty sure he’s going to sleep for a week once he’s done. The bright side is that while he’s been studying and working on his projects at A Shot & Bakery, he gets to see his favourite barista, and Jaemin, ever so sweet and true to his angel-like looks (Jeno disagrees), secretly gives him coffee refills and extra chocolatey baked treats to keep him going.

It’s four-thirty in the morning when Jisung hits the submit button on the final assignment, nineteen and a half hours to spare till the deadline. He leans back, lets out a heavy exhale with a stretch and takes in his surroundings. There’s only him and one other guy on the opposite end of the study area left. His companions are mostly food wrappers left from the muffins and cookies Jaemin sneaked him while Chenle was preoccupied, along with a long empty plastic cup of what was once the drink that could be named Type II Diabetes if added to the menu. As he packs up, he finally notices a little post-it stuck to his bag from Jaemin. _You’re almost there!! Don’t give up! But don’t go back too late either!! — the best barista in this cafe ♡_

He breaks out into a grin as he carefully sticks it on top of his laptop instead.

The grin is gone when he reaches his room and realises he’s forgotten his access key in his frenzied assignment rush. It’s now four fourty-eight, and he contemplates knocking to wake Seonho up and let him in, but he remembers Seonho sleeps like a log and needs eight alarms to wake up, including one last one that has BTS screaming _fire_ repeatedly. If he knocked hard enough to wake Seonho, he would also wake every single one of their floor mates at the ungodly hour.

Without any other place in mind, he trudges back to the study area. Even the other guy has left when he returns. Yawning, he curls up on one of the cafe’s couches and makes himself comfortable, sleep overtaking in less than a minute.

A few hours later, Jaemin comes in early to bake the day’s treats and fill their display, but sees instead Jisung, squished half his usual tall self on the couch. He can’t resist walking over and poking the younger boy but Jisung’s too tired to register the finger prodding his cheek.

“Jisung-ah.” Jaemin gently shakes him. “Did you not go back last night?”

The younger boy groans and turns to scoot away from his hand. “Five more minutes mom…”

Jaemin chuckles at the cute sight. “I’m not your mom, silly. Isn’t it uncomfortable to sleep like that?”

“Please… Five… Minutes…”

“Okay, it’s okay, baby. Just continue sleeping,” Jaemin coos, ruffling his hair before getting to his work.

By the time he’s done stocking the cafe’s display counter, the sun has risen to shine in on the windows directly on Jisung. He’s obviously in discomfort, because he scrunches his nose and fidgets to find a comfortable, shaded spot without opening his eyes.

Jaemin inwardly coos at the adorable display as a warm feeling fills him in the chest. He sits himself in front of the couch to block the rays from getting to Jisung and lightly run his fingers on the younger’s forehead to smooth away the frown. He stays like this for a while, sneaking a few photos to add to the first photo he took of Jisung, a blurry one of him sitting in his usual spot in direct sight from the counters, pretending to do his work. He names the folder “blackmail material” to make it seem inconspicuous and convince himself, _no, he’s not a creep, these are just future blackmail material_ , even though Jisung looks good in all of them and he has no want to blackmail the boy.

The scent of baked treats and coffee on a drip wafts about the study area, and Jisung wakes up to the delicious smell and a hungry stomach.

“Hyung,” he greets, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of his eyes.

“Morning, sleepyhead,” Jaemin chuckles, unable to resist the urge to ruffle his messy bedhead. “Why are you sleeping here, hmm?”

Jisung blushes and looks down, shying away from the touch, feeling even his ears get warm at the affectionate gesture. “I forgot my access key, and I didn’t want to wake up my roommate at four in the morning.”

Speak of the devil; his phone interrupts their conversation and the caller ID flashes with Seonho’s name. He picks it up and his roommate shouts his name out loud, audible despite being not on speaker.

“Jisung! Where are you! Are you okay! Why are you not back!”

“Ah, I’m at the cafe. I forgot to bring my card so I slept here,” Jisung mumbles. “I’ll be back in a bit.”

He hangs up and Jaemin pushes a paper bag of baked goodies into his arms. “For your breakfast.”

Jisung thanks him and leaves to return to his room to wash up. When he opens the paper bag, there’s more than enough food to feed him for three days so he offers Seonho a cookie.

“Treat it as a thank you, that you sleep like a log.” Jisung munches on his own cookie happily.

Seonho thinks the stress must have really gotten to his roommate.

• • •

Jeno is vexed. Half the lint roll has been used in the past two days because something, or rather, someone, has been troubling Jaemin, who takes it out on Affogato. He’s not pulling the poor cat’s hair out but he might as well be with how often he’s brushing the cat while staring into space. The silly cat (why don’t you recognise your actual owner? why do you keep going to your half-guardian? have you forgotten who saved you?) seems to be relishing in all the attention though, because he’s letting out low purrs as Jaemin continues to run his hand down from its head to the very tip of its tail.

“I can’t take this anymore. Jaemin, you need to stop. Affogato’s going to end up with a skin disease from all the fur you’re brushing out of him!”

The cat is pried away from Jaemin’s lap and into Jeno’s safe arms. He presses a kiss to his poor baby’s furry cheeks. Affogato stretches a bit closer to sniff at Jeno before squirming out of the hug, off to lap at his water dish. _Traitor_ , Jeno thinks.

“Jeno-yah…”

Jaemin glances at his hands forlornly, unsure what to do without their pet in his arms. Jeno shudders. He really needs to drop a text to Renjun to check up on his childhood friend’s mental state. Jaemin looks up at him with a small pout.

“Do you think Jisung is avoiding me? Does he know I find him cute? Is that why he hasn’t appeared for two days?”

Jeno checks his reflection in the mirror to make sure he’s still Jeno.

“How am I supposed to know when I’m not Jisung?”

Jaemin’s expression grows sadder. Half a minute later, however, he grows determined. “I’m gonna ask him out for dinner when he comes back!”

He then visibly deflates again. “If he comes back…”

Jeno types a quick SOS text to Renjun.

• • •

He’s still moping about when Jisung finally does appear at A Shot & Bakery again, but it’s not Jaemin but Renjun who’s helming the counters.

“Oh, chocolate chips, you’re back,” Renjun greets.

Jisung grins awkwardly with a wave in response, obviously looking past the counters for his favourite barista.

“Looking for Jaemin?” Renjun asks. “He’s been in the backroom a lot more lately, I think he’s stress baking.”

Jisung tilts his head towards the closed door behind Renjun. “Why is he stress baking?”

Renjun raises a brow at the guy in front of him. “According to his roommate and childhood friend, he’s banned from brushing their cat’s fur. In my professional opinion, I think he doesn’t know what to do with his hands anymore so he’s just finding something to be preoccupied with. Psychologically speaking, he’s displacing.”

The younger boy looks visibly confused. Renjun sighs. _Nobody understands._

“Doesn’t matter, it’s good that you’re back. I’m so sick of standing here and interacting with more humans than necessary. I think I hit my quota for the semester today,” Renjun quips before turning to shout for his colleague. “Jaemin-ah! Get your ass out here and serve your favourite customer!”

Jisung flushes at the words but he has little time to feel embarrassed because there’s a loud crash and Jaemin’s scurrying out of the backroom. His apron has two handprints of flour and smidges all over. He still has oven mitts on, which he hastily throws aside.

Jaemin breaks into a smile for the first time in three days. “Jisung-ah!”

Jisung does a small wave shyly.

“What can I get you?” Jaemin asks, grabbing a cup and the Sharpie from Renjun who gladly hands it over. “Your usual?”

“Yeah. Oh, can I also get a hot chocolate to go?”

“Of course,” Jaemin beams. He works at the drinks and can’t help but pipe up. “You… Have you been busy lately?”

The younger looks up, pointing to himself, not sure what he’s asking. “Me? Busy?”

“Yeah, haven’t seen you around here lately.” Jaemin pretends to shrug nonchalantly.

“Ah… I’ve been sleeping,” Jisung replies sheepishly, rubbing his neck. “I think I crashed for forty hours straight after I went back that day.”

Jaemin lets out a few happy shrieks internally. He schools his facial expression, and asks instead, “You didn’t wake up even once? To eat something maybe?”

“Nope,” Jisung replies, popping the ‘p’, proud of his self-induced coma.

“That’s not healthy.” Jaemin frowns as he squeezes chocolate syrup on top of the finished hot chocolate. “And you’re eating so much chocolate all the time. Sometimes I worry with how much sugar you’re consuming.”

“Oh don’t worry, the hot chocolate is for my roommate,” Jisung explains as he reaches for the drinks.

Something snaps in Jaemin’s mind because, _well fuck_ , he just drew a heart on top of the drink in chocolate syrup. The intention was to be blatantly obvious and ask Jisung out after he discovers it, not profess his love for the roommate he’s never even met before. His hand slips and the hot liquid splashes onto Jisung’s waiting hand.

“Ah!”

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry, I’m so so so sorry!”

Jaemin scrambles to dry Jisung’s hand, scalded a hot red, apologising over and over as he wipes at it with a washcloth. Even Renjun returns from his break because of the commotion.

“Stop wiping, you’ll hurt him more!” Renjun wraps ice in a paper towel and presses it to the burn instead.

Jaemin does end up bringing Jisung out, but it’s not to dinner as he wanted, but to the campus clinic. He’s close to tears at what he’s accidentally done and cradles Jisung’s hand in his arms, pressing the makeshift cold compress to the blotchy skin as they wait to see the doctor. The younger feels the burn not only on his hand but across his face all the way to his ears at the attention.

The doctor tells them it’s not a serious burn and prescribes a cream, but Jaemin fusses so much, the guy eventually tells them to come back two weeks later to make sure there’s no infection if he’s that worried.

“I’ll be your hands for these two weeks,” Jaemin states decidedly as they exit the clinic.

“It’s fine, hyung. I don’t want to bother you,” Jisung refuses, albeit slightly unwillingly.

Jaemin holds his hand gently and takes care not to touch the wound on the back. “It’s not a bother! I’ve lots of time on my hands, don’t worry. Unless, you don’t want me around?”

Jisung shakes his head vehemently. “But don’t you have your work to do? And don’t you need to be at the cafe?”

Jaemin waves him off. “Don’t worry, final year students like me muck around mostly. And I can find someone to take my place for a bit.”

• • •

Chenle crosses his arms and frowns at the presence of Jeno at A Shot & Bakery, taking orders where Jaemin should be, smiling his signature smile, stealing hearts left and right and proving his worth as number two most-good looking guy on campus.

“What do you mean Jaemin is busy at another cafe? Is he moonlighting?”

“No, he’s probably feeding Jisung chocolate cake or something. He accidentally scalded him and is apparently doing it out of guilt.” Renjun explains with a snort. “I think it’s just an excuse to take Jisung out on dates. The boy’s hand is barely burned, not broken.”

Chenle seethes as he updates his mental list of things Jaemin cares about starting with the letter C:

1) Chocolate chips boy who he accidentally burned the hand of,

2) Crafts by said boy that are definitely still sitting in a jar under the counter,

3) Coffee with way too many shots,

4) Course work he is definitely not doing,

3rd last) Childhood friend Lee Jeno who he has thrown under the bus to go on his dates,

2nd last) Chenle, who still deserves more respect as his boss, but at what cost does this position come? Especially when last on the list is —

Last) Cafe he’s not working at and instead is bringing business to other rival coffeeshops.

“I’m going to fire him,” Chenle declares with a huff. “This is a blatant display of betrayal to A Shot & Bakery!”

Jeno finally notices him behind the counter and turns to greet his boyfriend with a quick kiss on the cheek. A few hearts audibly shatter in the cafe.

“Who are you firing?” Jeno asks, smiling fondly as he pulls the smaller boy into his arms. “Me? But I want to stay here and spend time with you though.”

Chenle giggles at the affection. Okay, never mind, having Jeno around the place isn’t too bad either. “Nobody. Nobody’s getting fired.”

Renjun coughs loudly in distaste to remind them they’re still in public. “What happened to wanting to fire Jaemin just half a minute ago?”

“It’s okay, let his fangirls miss him a little bit. Psychology says that reinforcement works better in intervals. If they don’t know when he’ll show up then they’ll keep coming back,” Chenle reasons, lacing his fingers with Jeno’s happily.

“Good lord. You took _one_ intro to psych class last year and now you’re appropriating psych terms in the presence of a psych major. I’m done, goodbye,” Renjun wrinkles his nose and throws the cup in his hands at the couple.

• • •

As it turns out, Jaemin is indeed feeding Jisung cake (yes, at another cafe that’s not A Shot & Bakery, much to Chenle’s chagrin), but they’re sharing a salted caramel cake, not chocolate cake. Jaemin insisted a change up in the usual treats Jisung eats because for one, too much chocolate isn’t good for anyone and two, honestly, nobody makes chocolate baked treats that cater specifically to the younger’s taste like he does.

Carefully, Jaemin cuts a bite-size piece off the slice with the fork and brings it to Jisung’s lips. After all, Jisung’s hand is still injured! What is he supposed to do, use his other, non-dominant but uninjured and perfectly fine hand? Of course not!

Jisung accepts the food as calmly as he can, looking everywhere but at the boy in front of him, fingers gripping at his thighs, willing himself to not spontaneously combust.

• • •

The two weeks pass by really quickly as they enjoy themselves, and after Jaemin texts Jisung a reminder for the clinic appointment the next day, his hands find their way into Affogato’s fur again.

“What am I gonna do? What can I say to continue see him? Do I just straight up ask him to be my boyfriend? What if he didn’t see the past two weeks as dates?” Jaemin groans, full on rubbing the cat in his distress. Even Affogato is starting to feel a little displeased, nipping at his fingers every time they come close enough to its face.

Jeno snatches the cat out of his arms. “That’s your problem, stop torturing my child in your anxiety!”

• • •

After getting an all clear from the doctor, the two of them stand awkwardly outside the clinic, unsure of what to do or say next.

A hundred and one thoughts run through Jisung’s mind (Jaemin’s, too, but he doesn’t know that) as he struggle to form words. “Uh… I guess, thanks for taking care of me for the past two weeks?”

“Oh, yeah, sure, yeah. I mean, I was the one who got you hurt after all.”

“Ah… Well, it’s okay. I really liked all the places you brought me out to, so thank you.”

“Yeah, it’s no problem dude, glad you liked them. It’s the least I could do for injuring you,” Jaemin cringes inwardly. Why the hell did he call Jisung _dude_?

Jisung swallows awkwardly. “I guess, now that my hand’s okay, you don’t have to do this anymore? Haha.”

_Fuck_ , Jisung thinks, _who the hell says ‘haha’ in real life like that?_

“Yeah…” Jaemin breathes. _Was that him subtly saying he doesn’t want me around anymore?_ “Yeah, I guess so.”

• • •

After spending three days moping around, Jisung unlocks his phone for perhaps the hundredth time to look at the chat log between him and Jaemin. He had texted the older another thanks, and received a _no problem_ and a smiley face, but there was nothing after that.

Is that it? Is this going to be the end of interactions with Jaemin?

He sighs and the phone falls and smacks into his face, making him wince. He thinks perhaps he deserved that, he was the one who started a self-imposed ban from visiting A Shot & Bakery anyway. But that’s only because he doesn’t know what to do or say to Jaemin anymore.

Seonho returns to their shared room finding his roommate bundled up into a sad blanket burrow on his bed. He brings a chocolate muffin close to where he thinks Jisung’s head is. “I hear chocolate makes people happier?”

Jisung unwraps himself from his blanket, takes the muffin, thanks his roommate and takes a huge bite out of it. It’s extra chocolatey, just like how Jaemin makes it for him.

“Where did you get this?”

“The cafe at the study area. A Shot & Bakery? They’ve been having end of day sales and a classmate recommended it,” Seonho pulls out more baked treats from his bag as he replies.

“Oh.” Jisung continues to chew, face falling.

“Why? Is it not good? Ah, maybe that’s why it’s on sale.” Seonho frowns.

“No, it’s good. Really good. I really like it.”

• • •

“Hyung,” Chenle whines quietly. “I think you should just let him pet Affogato all he wants.”

He, along with Jeno and Renjun, are gathered by the cafe’s backroom door, watching Jaemin bake tray after tray of cookies, muffins, pastries — if there’s ingredients for it, he’s making it.

Jeno shakes his head. “It’s not going to solve the problem, better to have him stress bake then make Affogato lose whatever little fur that’s left.”

“But he’s going to incur so much production cost and what if we can’t sell everything before it goes bad?”

“Chenle’s right, even the end of day sale isn’t going to sell out everything if he continues baking like that,” Renjun sighs.

The trio look at each other contemplatively.

“I guess we can force him to come out here and man the counters. If he doesn’t hide in there, he won’t get to bake,” Jeno suggests.

And that’s how Jaemin finds himself at the front of the shop, looking down at his hands, lost, because Chenle chased him out of the backroom on the pretext of stock-taking. It’s not too big of a lie to be honest, he does need to stock take after the kitchen’s been through three and a half days of Jaemin’s stress-baking.

“Hi,” he greets the next customer tiredly. “What can I get you?”

“It’s the end of day sale now, right? Fifty percent off all the baked goods?” The boy asks, eyeing all the remaining food in the display.

“Uh, yeah.”

“Okay, can I get all the chocolate muffins, five chocolate cookies, and three of the fruit tarts?”

Jaemin nods as he rings the boy up. “Anything else?”

“Oh yeah, hang on, let me get my phone out,” the customer states, fishing his phone out from his pocket. “One hot chocolate to go, and also a medium-sized mocha frappe with 2 pumps of vanilla syrup and extra chocolate chips, no whipped cream.”

Jaemin’s hand stops and hovers over the register. “Who are you ordering this for? Is it Jisung? You know Jisung?”

“How did you know that?” Seonho gasps. “And, yeah, he’s my roommate!”

“Why isn’t he coming here to get it himself?” Jaemin presses.

“I don’t know? He just kind of wraps himself in a bundle on his bed refusing to go out and then looks sadly at the chocolate muffins I bring back. I thought he didn’t like it but he said he loves it, so, I don’t know man, I’m just a muffin supplier!”

“Renjun!” Jaemin turns to his colleague for help.

“Yeah I know, it’s an emergency, go get him. I’ll take over and close up with Jeno and Chenle.”

Jaemin thanks him and turns back to Seonho. “Where do you live?”

Seonho takes a step back apprehensively. “Whoa, what. I mean, we just met and you wanna follow me home? You’re good-looking but I don’t see you that way man.”

Chenle pops his head out of the backroom. “Jisung’s roommate, right? I think I’ve seen you here for the past two days? If you tell Jaemin where you live, whatever you ordered is on the house, for being a loyal customer to our cafe.”

“Block 7, Level 5, Room 2,” Seonho offers without hesitation. After all, where free food is concerned, there are no such things as morals.

Jaemin looks gratefully at his friends, blessing them and eighteen generations of their ancestors, also Affogato and however many kids Chenle and Jeno will adopt in future. “Thanks friends!”

Chenle self-assuredly moves himself up third place behind the mental list of things Jaemin cares for starting with the letter C, just behind chocolate chips boy and crafts chocolate chip boy makes that’s no longer sitting under the counter…? What’s Jaemin doing running out with the jar of stars for? At least bring him his drink!

• • •

The frantic knocks on his room door wake Jisung up from his evening nap and he struggles out of his blanket cocoon, having bound it a little too tightly for the day.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” he calls out. “Damn it Seonho, did you forget your card?”

The person standing on the other side of the door is not his roommate, and he reflexively moves to slam the door shut so he can continue pretending to be a pupa. Maybe he’ll emerge as a butterfly after a while and feel better about himself. Or die in a couple of weeks like those insects do in real life. Either or.

“Jisung, wait!” Jaemin yells, jamming his foot between the door and the doorframe. “I like you!”

Jisung lets go of the door in shock, letting Jaemin push it open.

“I’m sorry I didn’t say it earlier, stupid of me, I know. Look,” Jaemin pauses and brings out the jar from his hoodie pocket, half filled with the paper straw stars he leaves behind in the cafe. “I kept all the little stars you put on the table, including the one you gave me. They’re really cute, like you. I miss seeing you and going out with you. Please, date me?”

The younger boy is still stunned, thoughts racing in his head and unable to form a coherent word.

“Unless… Did I read it all wrong, and you don’t like me that way?” Jaemin asks, voice a lot quieter.

“No!” Jisung shouts. “No, I mean, yes, yes, I like you too.”

“You mean it?” Jaemin questions, smile making its way back on his face.

Jisung nods.

“Prove it.”

“W-what?”

Jaemin taps on his cheek teasingly, hinting at a kiss.

Jisung blushes and looks down, unable to meet the older’s gaze. He eyes the jar of stars and something strikes him. “Did you know that I wrote a message inside every single star?”

“Huh?”

“You asked me to prove it,” Jisung mumbles, taking the jar and emptying it into his palm. He unfolds one of the stars and hands it to Jaemin.

The first one reads, “Your colleagues are weird but thank you for the treat today! I like everything that you make.”

Another reads, “I have so much work to do but sitting here and seeing you gives me motivation to finish them.”

A third one unfolds to, “I feel stupid to have hacked the school’s forums to manipulate your votes on the board. Now I have to compete with even more of your fans.”

“Wait, you hacked the university’s forum? I thought you said your major doesn’t do hacking!” Jaemin accused.

Jisung laughs. “I said it’s not the only thing we did, but we do learn a bit of it.”

“What the heck, you have to show me how to do it some time!”

“Sure, I guess.” Jisung shrugs.

Jaemin crowds into his space and lets the door close behind them. Cornering Jisung further, he leans in grinning. “And don’t distract me with you cute messages in your cute stars. I still want a kiss.”

The younger meekly moves forward to give him a kiss on the cheek, but Jaemin turns and their lips press together briefly instead. Jisung moves back, hand covering his mouth, scandalised by how forward the older is.

“You didn’t take the cheek kiss offer, so I assumed you’d prefer one right on the— Ouch! Why did you pinch me?”

Jisung looks a little apologetic, ears red as he runs his fingers lightly over Jaemin’s waist where he pinched him. “S-sorry, did I hurt you?”

Jaemin, smiling brightly, grabs the hand and laces their fingers together instead. “Nah, because it’s Jisung, it’s okay.”

• • •

Jisung visits his boyfriend at A Shot & Bakery while he’s manning the counters, and Jaemin visibly brightens at the sight of him.

“Hi baby, what can I get you?” Jaemin greets, grinning from ear to ear. “The usual?”

Jisung flushes at the term of endearment but shakes his head. “Instead of the usual today, can I get you?”

Pleasantly surprised by the flirting, Jaemin leans over the counter to give his boyfriend a kiss. “Any day.”

In the background, Renjun mock-retches into the sink, yelling “This is assault and battery to my eyes!”

Chenle lets out a happy sigh as he snuggles closer under a smiling Jeno’s arm. “Look at that, young love.”

**Author's Note:**

> did i name the cafe a shot & bakery just to make the jokes at the start and the end? _yes._
> 
> also ngl i would legit name my cat affogato in future if i do adopt one. i also realised that the cat probably got more screen time than jenle being together when they're supposed to be dating. priorities, amirite?
> 
> leave me comments on how unbelievable it is that jisung is folding jaemin paper stars here when he breaks everything in real life heh
> 
> hope y'all enjoyed it! ♡ 
> 
> [cc](https://curiouscat.me/allthelines) || [twt](https://twitter.com/jaesungrise)


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